


The Turning of a Page

by RockSunner



Series: Smart Adversaries AU [26]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action/Adventure, Akumatized!Marinette, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Be Careful What You Wish For, Bittersweet Ending, Butterfly!Alya, Chat Noir Reveal, Deception, Episode: s01 Volpina, Episode: s02 Glaciator, F/M, Identity Reveal, Ladybug Reveal, Mystery, Peacock!Adrien, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 12:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13718103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockSunner/pseuds/RockSunner
Summary: What if Adrien had noticed the Peacock Miraculous in his father's safe? Spoilers for the second season of Miraculous Ladybug.





	1. The Broach

Adrien was running down the stairs, heading for the front door, when he heard his father's voice from a side room. He stopped to look in.

"I was right in the middle of something very important," said Gabriel Agreste, looking down at the book open in front of him on a table as he spoke on the telephone.

Gabriel went on about some fashion-related problems, but Adrien's attention was focused on the book. Why was it so important?

Adrien saw his father go to an open safe that he had never before realized was there, behind the large portrait of his mother, missing for almost a year. His father put the book into the safe, shut the door, and closed the portrait panel back over the safe.

"Call my assistant Nathalie. She'll give you some other names," said Gabriel as he walked out of the room and away. (Adrien hid behind a pillar to avoid being discovered.)

"He hides stuff behind the painting of Mom?" Adrien whispered to his kwami, Plagg, who floated beside him.

"I love dirty secrets!" said Plagg.

Adrien walked into the room, dropped his tote bag, and opened the secret panel.

"Yes, go on, go on!" urged Plagg.

Adrien saw a numerical control panel to enter a combination. "I can't. My dad wouldn't like me going through his stuff. Besides, I don't even know the code, and my fencing class is about to start."

"You're such a party-pooper," said Plagg, phasing right through the safe door and popping it open.

"Plagg, no!"

"My, my, what have we got in here? A book on Tibet, a flyer for a hotel, and a load of old junk. Come on, where's the good stuff?"

Plagg tossed out an old leather-bound book, which Adrien caught. Adrien opened it, looking at strange illustrations, one of which looked like an old-fashioned version of Ladybug.

"I've seen this book somewhere before," said Plagg, "But who cares, I'm famished. I need Camembert!"

"Why does my Dad keep this book in his safe?" asked Adrien to himself.

He turned a page, and came to an illustration of a masked woman in a purple outfit, holding a fan that looked like it was made of peacock feathers. She was posed leaping into the air, as if starting to fly. In another illustration on the facing page was a picture of a colorful piece of jewelry, a broach shaped like a peacock.

Adrien looked up from the book and there it was, on a shelf in the safe in front of a photo of his mother. He picked it up. Was this a real magical item like his ring, or was it just a copy?

"Cheese! Didn't you hear me?" asked Plagg.

Adrien heard footsteps coming. Nathalie and the Gorilla must have gotten tired of waiting for him at the car!

Adrien hesitated, almost putting the book and broach back, but he had to know more. He shut the safe, closed up the painting, and stuffed both items into his bag.

The two employees came into the room, looking stern.

Nathalie said, "Adrien, you're going to be late."

"I was looking for my equipment," said Adrien, holding up his fencing mask. "Silly me."


	2. The Lost Book

Adrien was near the top of the stairs at school, about to head down, when a pretty girl with brown pigtails stepped in front of him.

"Hi, I'm Lila Rossi," said the girl. "And you are?"

She got a little too close and poked her finger into his chest. Adrien was uncomfortable. In his sheltered life only Chloe acted like this with him, and only after years of friendship. Still, she seemed friendly and he tried to be nice.

"I'm Adrien Agreste. Nice to meet you."

"I'm a new student here - just moved here from Italy," said Lila rapidly. "I met a lot of people today who said you were a top student. Come into the library with me - I need a study buddy."

She began pulling him by the arm into the library. Adrien yielded. There was somewhere he had to be soon, but she was hard to resist. He sat at one of the tables.

"Just a second. I need to get a book," said Lila, and she disappeared among the shelves.

While he was waiting, Adrien pulled out the book he had "borrowed" from his father. (He had transferred the book from his equipment tote bag to his school book bag, but locked the broach in his fencing locker for temporary safekeeping.)

He was concentrating on the illustrations when Lila came up again.

"Now we can get going on our history homework. It's so much more fun doing it together," said Lila. Then she gasped and asked "What's that?"

Adrien tried to cover his book with a smaller textbook, but Lilia pulled it out from under the other book and started looking at it.

"N-nothing," said Adrien. "Just stories about... superheroes."

Lila smiled seductively and put her hand on top of his. "I looove superheroes."

In a second she seemed to decide that her touch was making him nervous (it certainly was). She went back to flipping pages in the book.

"Ladybug?" said Lila when she came to the picture of the ancient Chinese version of the hero.

Adrien sighed and looked off into space. "She's amazing."

Lila slid her chair and moved right next to him. "A girl doesn't need to wear a costume to be amazing, you know."

"Uuuh!... I don't know," said Adrien, flustered.

"So, you've got a little soft spot for the Bug, huh?" asked Lila.

"Me? Oh, no. Not at all."

"You know, I actually happen to be very close friends with Ladybug."

"Really?" asked Adrien, his eyes wide.

"We can chat about it if you want – not here, though. Why don't we meet in the park after school? I'll tell you everything."

There was a sudden crash when someone accidentally knocked over a rolling book carrier. Adrien stood up to check it out, but then his cell phone buzzed. Oh no! This morning was fencing practice exercises, but now he was due for his actual lesson. Lila had put it out of his mind.

"I've got to go," said Adrien. "I have a fencing lesson in 58 seconds."

Adrien jammed his books back into his bag, but when he turned to go Lila was right in his face. He was startled and dropped his bag.

"So... the park?" Lila asked.

Adrien gathered his wits for a second.. "Uh... sure!"

He scooped up his bag and ran for his lesson.

* * *

After the lesson, Adrien decided to put the peacock broach back in his school bag and take it home, after he met with Lila. He was starting to regret taking things from his father, and he wanted to replace them as soon as possible.

When he opened his school bag he found the book was missing!

He was in a private corner of the locker room, with no other students around. He called out "Plagg, Plagg!"

Plagg yawned. "Whassup?"

"The book from Father's safe! Where is it? You were in my book bag, did you see it fall out?"

"Nah, I was taking a nap. I care about food, not books."

"This is important. Father will kill me if I don't return that book."

"You'll be fine. At worst he'll ground you for life and we won't have to go to this school again."

In desperation, Adrien held up the peacock broach. He pinned it on and said, "If there's a kwami in there, come out! I need you to help me."

There was a burst of purple light and a little creature appeared. It was like Plagg, expect for being purple and having a peacock tail.

"Hi, I'm Duusu. You must be my new master. I hope you will be sweet and nice like my last mistress."

"Aaw, no!" said Plagg, floating up to Duusu. "He's already taken. I was afraid of this when I saw your Miraculous in the safe. That's why I didn't say anything. Now I'll get less attention and less cheese."

"Selfish!" said Duusu, weeping a stream of tears. "I've been lost from the rest of you for so long."

"That's me," said Plagg. "Mr. Selfish."

"Guys, stop it," said Adrien. "I need your help. A valuable book was in the safe along with your pin, Duusu. Now it's missing."

Adrien described the book to Duusu.

"That's terrible," said Duusu. "That book contains priceless lore of the kwamis."

"Can you help me find it?" asked Adrien.

"I can empower you as the Peacock. Wisdom and insight will be among your powers," said Duusu.

"Just what I need," said Adrien.

"Hold on, let me make you Chat Noir instead," said Plagg. "You can tear the school apart and find the book."

"I have a mystery to solve," said Adrien. "I don't need brute force. I need something more subtle."

"Say: 'Duusu, fan out' to start the transformation, and 'Fan in' to reverse it," said Duusu.

"Duusu, fan out!"


	3. The Park

Adrien went through the ritual dance-like motions of a transformation: swiping over his face, over his hair, extending his arms, and doing a twirl on one leg. When it was done, he looked in the locker-room mirror and gasped.

His hair was much darker, a deep brown with streaks of black. His face had a purple tinge, and around his pink eyes were deep shadows forming a mask. A purple beret with a tear-shaped pink spot on the top was perched at an angle on his head, and he was wearing an indigo bodysuit with a flowing cape decorated in a peacock-feather design.

In his hand was a fan made of real feathers. He could tell they were real because his allergy kicked in. He sneezed violently.

"I told you this was a mistake," said Plagg (he was still here, though of course Duusu had been sucked into the Peacock Miraculous).

"Achoo! Plagg, how am I going work as a superhero when I'm sneezing all the time?"

"Don't ask me," said Plagg sulkily. "Oh all right, maybe something on the fan will help."

Adrien looked at the fan more closely. He saw everything much more clearly now. Each feather of the fan had a word written on the inside. "Light," "Insight," "Wisdom," and more. There was "Healing," too.

Instinctively he pulled the feather from the fan. "Healing for my allergy."

The feather disappeared in puff of smoke. The gap in the fan closed, and he saw a new little feather sprout at the bottom of the gap. He took a deep breath and realized he felt much better.

"That's good! I am the new champion... what shall I call myself...?" Adrien said. "Kǒng Què?"

"If you want people to know you can speak Chinese," said Plagg. "I say keep it simple French: 'Le Paon'."

"That works. Now down to business. I need to figure out where I lost that book."

Le Paon selected the feather of "Wisdom" this time. His mind went back to the library, where he last saw the book. Every memory replayed in vivid detail. There were suspicious moments: a flash of red out of the corner of his eye, and the crash of the book trolley suggested someone was watching. But there was also Lila shifting her feet as they stood together, and a slight sound of something dragging across the floor.

"Most likely Lila got the book," said Le Paon. "I have to go to the park and confront her."

He ran outside and with a leap and a swipe of the fan he took to the air, with the cape flowing out behind him like glider wings. He found his flight was like a peacock's, a combination of leaping and gliding along.

Lila was sitting on a bench in the park. Le Paon kept his distance and let his newly-sharpened vision hone in on her. She took a piece of jewelry out of a small box and put it on. Then she reached for the book beside her.

With a leap and a swoop he was standing in front of her. "Pardon me. I am Le Paon, and I believe you have something which does not belong to you."

Le Paon grabbed the book from the bench.

Lila looked up in horror, and then screamed out, "Aaah! It's one of those Parisian monsters! Help someone, he's trying to rob me!"

"Tikki, spots on!" he heard from behind a tree. A few seconds later, Ladybug came out, swinging her yo-yo.

Le Paon had not waited. He knew he was no physical match for Ladybug in this form. He flew down a side alley, stashed the book in a trash bin, and transformed back to his civilian form. He knew he was making a bad first impression as a hero, but he had to cover for now and explain to Ladybug later.

Adrien ran to Lila, who had Ladybug standing beside her. "What's wrong?" he called.

"Adrien, this young woman was attacked by a villain who apparently steals from thieves. I have to go after him, but first I must warn you not to trust anything she says."

"Wait, aren't you and Lila good friends?" asked Adrien.

"She said so on the Ladyblog, all about me saving her life. Now I forget, when did I do that, Lila? Maybe it was... never!"

Lila looked nervous, as if trying to come up with a story.

"Lila, I'm missing that book you were looking at at the library," said Adrien. "Have you seen it?"

"You accidentally left it on the library floor when you dropped your bag, and you ran off before I could tell you," said Lila. "I was going to return it to you. Now a villain has it. He calls himself Le Paon, a thieving bird monster."

"There's more than she's telling, Adrien," said Ladybug. "I'll talk to you about it later, but right now I have to go get that villain and get your book for you."

Ladybug swung off.

"She's jealous of me, that's why she denied me," said Lila. "You see this pendant? It was handed down to me by my grandmother. I'm actually a stronger superhero than she is. Volpina, the Vixen."

"I'm sorry, Lila," said Adrien. "My father makes a line of jewelry with a pendant just like that, sold in stores all over Paris. I guess I'm flattered that you're trying to impress me, but I don't like lies. I can't be your friend after this."

Lila ran off crying.

* * *

Adrien retrieved the book and got it home safely. He got Duusu to open the safe for him and he put the book back.

"What are we going to do about you, Duusu?" asked Adrien.

"Please don't renounce me and lock me back in there," said Duusu. "You're my master now. At least feed me breadcrumbs first – I'm so hungry."

"I won't lock you away forever," said Adrien. "I can get a replica broach from a jewelry store, but there's a risk Father will open the safe in the mean time. I'll put you back until then."

"No, please! I don't want to go back in there at all. As Le Paon, you could break into the security system and make it look like an outside burglary," said Duusu. "Insight would help you do that."

Adrien sighed. "For a new hero, I'm getting deeper and deeper into villainy. But for you I'll do it. Duusu, Fan out!"

With Insight, Le Paon not only defeated the safe but also found a hidden security camera. He erased all the incriminating images, including those of Adrien taking the book earlier in the day.

He reverted and returned to his room. Just in time, because the Gorilla knocked on the door, ready to take him on an outing.

Back to the park, again. Hopefully nothing worse would happen there.


	4. Volpina

On the way out, Adrien stopped by the kitchen and put a few slices of bread in his bag. (He already had a baggie of Camembert stashed in there.)

"No eating in the car," growled the Gorilla.

"I won't," said Adrien, but in the bag, out of sight of the bodyguard, the two kwamis ate greedily.

They didn't get far. The sight of a giant comet heading for the city caused the Gorilla to race quickly back home.

Adrien rushed upstairs. This was a job for Chat Noir. Too much even for him, but maybe, if he leaped up and used Cataclysm, he could make it disintegrate before he was fried by the heat. He got transformed and headed out.

An orange and white streak shot into the sky. Chat saw a flying woman pushing the comet, bringing it to a stop just before it hit the Louvre Pyramid. The orange-clad heroine threw the comet back into the sky.

Landing on a nearby building, the heroine proclaimed, "I am Volpina, the only superhero this city needs!"

The crowd below cheered and chanted her name.

Chat saw Ladybug up on a rooftop and vaulted up to her.

"It seems we have a new member on the team," said Chat.

Ladybug said, "It seems weird, a new superhero showing up out of nowhere."

"She got the job done."

"I could have stopped the meteorite myself."

Was that a hint of jealousy he heard from his Lady? That was encouraging. Chat pushed it a little more. "Hey relax, I'm just saying she seems awesome."

Volpina jumped up to join them. "I'm glad you dropped in. I need a hand. Come on."

They leaped to another roof, following Volpina.

"I'm after that villain," said Volpina, pointing down to a pawn shop. A winged man flew up to the store window, smashed it, and pulled out a handful of diamond necklaces.

The trust Chat had begun to feel in the new heroine instantly drained. What was going on here? Was Volpina working with a Copycat-like villain to frame him?

Ladybug said, "Yes! I've been looking all over for that guy. Le Paon. It seems he steals whatever he thinks is stolen property. He was probably akumatized from anger about something stolen from him."

"Wait, are you sure he's an akuma?" asked Chat.

"It's obvious," said Ladybug. "Look at his strange eyes and dark costume."

"Hey, I resemble that remark. I have strange eyes and I wear a dark costume, but I'm a good kitty," said Chat.

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Chat Noir," said Volpina. "I think your costume is cool."

"Thanks, yours too," said Chat, acting charming to cover his distrust.

Ladybug looked jealous again as she asked, "Volpina, what's your Miraculous?"

"My necklace," said Volpina, showing off her fox-tail necklace.

"What power does it give you?" asked Ladybug.

"Flight and super-strength," said Volpina, smirking.

Chat Noir was starting to get the picture. Lila's anger over having her superhero story rejected by him would make her a perfect akuma victim. But Ladybug wouldn't believe it, since she thought Le Paon was the akuma.

The figure below took to the air and zipped away in a blur.

"He's getting away!" said Volpina. "Let's combine forces and take him down."

They agreed to split up and go after Le Paon from different directions.

Chat agreed because he needed to be alone to consult Duusu. He went to the right and followed the impostor, who was flitting from rooftop to rooftop at a speed the real Paon couldn't manage.

When he was out of sight of the others he called, "Duusu?"

The little kwami appeared. "I was hiding inside your body. It's hard because you move so fast."

"I'm glad you're here. Can you tell what is going on with that fake Le Paon?"

"It's an only an illusion – the Fox has that power. But that's not the real Fox, either."

"I suspected something like that. I'll turn back, attack her, and save Ladybug."

"She can make you waste your strength on illusions. What you need is Le Paon's power of True Sight."

"All right. Plagg, Claws in," said Chat, and a moment later, "Duusu, Fan out."

"This is a mistake," said Plagg on emerging from the ring. "Ladybug is hunting you in this form."

"Then I'll just have to stay out of her sight while I save her from Volpina's tricks."

Le Paon found the feather of True Sight on his fan and invoked it. Gliding low, and dodging from cover to cover, he soon found Ladybug. She was surrounded by a ring of missiles, threatened by Volpina. Both the missiles and Volpina were transparent to his vision.

"Either you give me your Miraculous, or the building goes down!" said Volpina.

"You wouldn't," said Ladybug.

Volpina blew on her flute, creating an illusion that a nearby building was crumbling and falling.

Ladybug said, "Stop!" Hanging her head in defeat, she started to remove one earring.

Le Paon flew through the illusion, causing it to disappear in a rush of false flames. So much for staying out of sight, but he had no other choice to save Ladybug.

"It's an illusion!" said Ladybug to Volpina. "Just like the meteor, and the fake Le Paon. That's your power, isn't it? Illusions and lies."

She swung her yo-yo and the missiles flamed into nothing. Then she swung it at Volpina, who also vanished.

"Of course," said Ladybug. She looked down and spotted Le Paon. "You could be another illusion to distract me, but I'd better check."

She swung down and got a strong grip on Le Paon's upper arm before he could fly away.

"You're solid," said Ladybug. "I want answers. Who are you and what are you doing here?"

With Ladybug this close, and with True Sight still on, there was no way for Paon not to see her true identity. His heart jumped.

"Mar-" He caught himself, and said, "Miraculous. I'm a Miraculous holder, like yourself."

"Oh really? I've already been fooled once today. What is your Miraculous?"

"This peacock broach," said Le Paon, gesturing with his left hand to the jewelry pinned at his chest.

"What power does it give you?"

"Powers related to sunlight. Vision, guidance, and healing mainly. I'm more for support than a fighter."

"Sounds a little too good to be true. Why should I believe you?"

"I helped you. Volpina nearly tricked you out of your Miraculous. If I hadn't broken through the illusion..."

"Thank you for that. But what about Adrien's book? I saw you steal it."

"I returned it to him. Somehow I doubt Lila would have."

"You have a good point… All right, I'll let you go. I've got to call Chat Noir and get after Volpina."

"Good hunting," said Le Paon, gliding quickly away around the corner to transform yet again.

* * *

Later, after a successful battle at the Eiffel Tower, Chat Noir and Ladybug were ready to part ways. Ladybug had used her Lucky Charm to produce a shiny ice lolly wrapper to make the real Volpina react to the light, and Chat Noir had used his Cataclysm to make a portion of the tower crumble and fall just right to cage Volpina.

The invocation of Miraculous Ladybug had restored Lila to normal. She was still angry at Le Paon and Ladybug, although the latter apologized.

Both of their talismans were beeping to indicate time was up.

"There's one problem," said Ladybug. "Where's Adrien?"

"Everything's back to normal, so he must be back at home," said Chat.

"I should check," said Ladybug.

"No! I'll go. You're about to change back," said Chat.

"So are you," said Ladybug. "No arguing. I'll take care of it."

And off she went.

"That stubbornness," said Chat. "It's so… irresistible!"

He thought for a second. He didn't have to rush. It would take more than a minute to get to his house, even for Ladybug. She was going to have to stop, de-transform, and feed her kwami. He, on the other hand, had a relatively fresh kwami to spare.

"Plagg, Claws in… Duusu, Fan out."

* * *

Adrien was back home with time to spare. He was waiting when Ladybug came in the window.

"Adrien, I was worried about you. I thought Volpina had you."

"No, I was hiding."

"Adrien, did you meet Le Paon?"

"Yes, I did. He returned my book to me. Please don't mention it to anyone. I borrowed it from my dad without permission, and I would be in a lot of trouble if he found out."

"The book may be important. Would you let me look at it sometime?"

"You're sure it's important?"

"Not really, but it might be..."

"I'm sorry, it would be too risky. He might catch me and then I wouldn't be allowed to go to school with y- I mean, I wouldn't be allowed to go to public school again, as you probably do."

Ladybug looked anxious and gave a nervous laugh. "I had better be going now."

There was a noise from another room.

Gabriel Agreste shouted, "Nathalie! I've been robbed! My precious peacock broach is missing from the safe!"

Ladybug scowled and said, "I should have turned that thieving Le Paon over to the police when I had a chance. He tricked me! I need to tell your father what I know."

She started for the door.

"Not now, not from this room," urged Adrien. "If Father knew you came here to check up on me after my life was threatened by an akuma, he'd want to lock me up again."

Ladybug said, "All right, I'll come back later."

When she was gone, Adrien breathed a sigh of relief. But it was far from over. Who knew that living a triple life would be so complicated?


	5. The Collector

"Adrien? Come with me, please," said Nathalie from outside his door.

Adrien followed Nathalie to the gallery room. The panel behind the picture of his mother was open, and so was the safe behind it. Gabriel Agreste was pacing angrily back and forth.

"What happened, Father?" asked Adrien.

"I've been robbed, Adrien. Someone took a precious item of jewelry out of my safe."

"I saw you in here this morning," said Nathalie. "Did you notice anything then?"

"I didn't see a robber lurking around, if that's what you mean," said Adrien, half-truthfully.

"Don't worry, son, " said Gabriel, "You aren't under suspicion. It would take a professional to crack the safe and delete the security camera images."

"How valuable was the jewelry?" Adrien asked.

"Priceless. To explain, I need to tell you a little history," said Gabriel.

Adrien nodded his interest.

"I met your mother while we were both in Tibet. She was an archaeologist, and I was there looking for fashion inspirations. We fell in love and traveled together.

"One day, we found some things for sale at a bazaar stall. She bought me a book with illustrations of heroes from Chinese mythology, and I bought her a beautiful peacock broach.

"We found an illustration of the peacock broach in the book. She was able to decode enough of the writing to try testing to see if the broach was magic. It was. It enabled her to transform into a hero like the ones in the past. She became Lady Peacock, with powers of wisdom and healing."

"Really? Mom was a superhero?" asked Adrien.

"Do you remember one time when you had a high fever? You were very ill, and the doctors didn't know what to do. One morning you woke up completely well, and you told us about being visited by a lady in purple. We persuaded you it was a dream."

"I just barely remember that," said Adrien. "What else did she do?"

"She kept a low profile, but on a few occasions she used it to solve crimes. She renounced it after a close call. We kept it in the safe, to be taken up again only in an emergency like a family member needing healing again."

"The broach is what was stolen, right?" asked Adrien.

"Yes. What worries me is that the thief took only that, and knew exactly where to look," said Gabriel. "Your mother might have been kidnapped by people who wanted her power. Her captors may have forced her to talk."

"Do you want me to call the police, Mr. Agreste?" asked Nathalie.

"That would be too risky," said Gabriel. "I have been working in my own way towards getting Adele back. So far the agents I have recruited have not succeeded... but I still have hope."

"Are there any more precautions we can take?" asked Nathalie.

"I don't know. They were bold enough to break in here – I underestimated the risks. I may have to go into hiding, along with Adrien."

Adrien felt horribly guilty. He was strongly tempted to admit the robbery and face the consequences. His father would be very angry. Everything would have to come out, Chat Noir and all, to explain how he got into the safe in the first place.

Maybe he could just return the broach anonymously?

Ladybug showed up outside the window. She tapped on the glass, and Nathalie let her in.

"What is it, Ladybug?" asked Gabriel. "We are rather busy here."

"I wanted to warn you about a jewel thief I'm looking for," said Ladybug. "He wears a bird costume and calls himself Le Paon."

"Go on," said Gabriel.

"When I last saw him, he was wearing a peacock-shaped broach. I think you are missing one?"

"Yes, but how did you find out about it? I have told no-one yet."

"I... I just happened to be passing by your house and I overheard. Ladybug hearing, you know?"

"I find that unlikely. I decline to tell a masked stranger about my private business. For all I know, you are an accomplice of the thief."

"No, please... I assure you I am innocent."

"When you see him again, tell him that I am his sworn enemy. I will hunt him down and destroy him, no matter who he is."

Ladybug looked back and forth between him and Adrien, then sighed. "I'm only trying to help. I promise I'll catch him."

Ladybug exited through the window and swung away.

Gabriel turned back to Adrien. "My worst fears have been realized. The people who took the broach have begun to use its power."

"Father, I..." Adrien began.

"Not now, son," said Gabriel. "I need to work on a plan to throw my enemies off my track."

When his father was in this state of mind there was no chance of getting him to listen. Adrien decided to wait and hope things calmed down a bit before confessing.

* * *

Later, there was a crashing noise coming from the gallery room. Adrien rushed there but Nathalie was standing in front of the door.

"Your father is very busy," Nathalie said.

Busy destroying the room, it sounded like. Adrien went back to his bedroom.

"This is a mess," he told Plagg and Duusu. "I need to get out as Chat Noir, jump around the rooftops and clear my head. Plagg, claws out!"

It might be for the last time, so he was going to make the most of it.

Then, when he extended his staff, he saw there was a voicemail from Ladybug. He played it: "Chat, get your whiskers over here fast. I think I know who Papillon is."

Action against Papillon would be good. After that, maybe he would confess everything to Ladybug and start sorting this whole mess out.

Chat Noir found Ladybug pacing on top of their rendezvous building, waiting for him.

"Chat Noir, did you get my messages?"

"Yeah, and I can't wait to know more, m'Lady detective," said Chat, leading on his staff. "Who's the suspect?"

"Gabriel Agreste," said Ladybug.

Chat's hands slipped off his cane and he almost fell.

"You know, the fashion designer?" asked Ladybug.

"You've got proof?" asked Chat.

"Aah, I... uh... I can't tell you," said Ladybug.

Was she suspicious because of the way his father had brushed off her help on the robbery?

"I'm supposed to just... accept that?" asked Chat.

"You must trust me on this. It all makes sense. Gabriel Agreste is a secretive man. He never leaves his house. And get this – check out his brand logo."

Ladybug showed a zoomed-in image on her cell phone of a butterfly-shaped logo.

"A butterfly?" asked Chat Noir, thinking of several other butterfly-shaped decorations around his home. And what his father had said about recruiting agents...

Ladybug put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay, Chat Noir?"

With grim determination Chat said, "It's time to get to the bottom of this."

* * *

What they found at the Agreste mansion was the Collector. In his hand was a jewelry box, with some compartments filled and some empty. He could throw it at people and objects, turning them into figurines fastened into the box.

"A precious piece of jewelry was stolen from me. Now I will get new ones to replace it! Nothing would make me happier than to collect miniatures of Chat Noir, Ladybug, and Le Paon, in my box forever."

It took a difficult fight, losing both Chat's staff and Ladybug's yo-yo, before they figured out his weakness – the finite capacity of his jewelry box.

Ladybug rigged up a way to use the Foosball table to throw masses of CD's at the Collector until his box was full. Then she was able to break the box, releasing the butterfly so she could cleanse it.

Gabriel Agreste was back to normal. "I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you before, Ladybug. I was lashing out in rage for my loss, but I realize you had nothing to do with it."

"No problem, Sir. Anyone can get akumatized," said Ladybug.

Ladybug and Chat Noir talked before she left.

"Anyone can get akumatized, except for Papillon himself," said Chat Noir.

"You're right, my suspicions must be wrong," said Ladybug. "I'll tell Master – never mind, forget I said anything."

"You're keeping something from me, m'Lady. Please don't let this cat die of curiosity."

"I don't have permission, Chat. Maybe someday," said Ladybug.

* * *

After she was gone, Adrien pondered to himself. His father had said something about a plan to throw his enemies off. Could the Collector somehow have been a trick?

Maybe Gabriel Agreste really was Papillon. Then what about his enemies, who possibly kidnapped his mother because of her Miraculous?

Ladybug had a "Master." Could Adrien and Marinette have been given their powers by criminals, just to get to the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous? Was Chat Noir just a cats-paw?

"A cat joke, very punny," he said aloud and without humor.

"Whassup?" asked Plagg.

"Can either of you tell me who gave us the Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses?" Adrien asked his kwamis.

"Sorry kid, I'm not allowed to talk about that," said Plagg.

"I have been lost a long time," said Duusu. "I don't know what has happened to the others."

It should have been wonderful, knowing who Ladybug was. He could have started asking Marinette out as Adrien. Now there was secrecy and suspicion between them.

Adrien's loyalties were torn. He understood that his father just wanted to find his mother, but the terrible things Papillon has done weighed on him. People could have been killed. He and Marinette could have died. If his father was Papillon, he couldn't be told of Le Paon.

Adrien would have to lie low and work this out for himself, using the detective abilities of Le Paon.


	6. Despair Bear

Adrien remembered how the Wisdom feather had helped him find the missing book. Maybe it could help him now.

"Duusu, Fan out!"

The Wisdom feather had grown back into the fan, so he pulled it and invoked it. "Wisdom, I need clues about the Master."

His memory of the evening of the day he met Marinette replayed in vivid detail. She had been suspicious of him as a friend of Chloe and she thought he put gum on her seat. That evening he explained he was only trying to get the gum off and they had become friends. He offered her his umbrella.

His Wisdom memory zoomed in on something he had glimpsed as he walked to the car. Not far away, someone was standing. He had a red and white Hawaiian shirt, and he was just standing in the rain, his face hidden by an umbrella. Where had Adrien seen that shirt before?

Wisdom showed him: it was the previous day. Adrien had helped a old man who had dropped his cane and couldn't stand without it.

Or could he? The figure standing in the rain was _not using a cane_.

Why was he there? To watch Adrien and Marinette, of course. There was nobody else around. Le Paon felt sure that was the Master. Why was he watching? To monitor Adrien? To make sure Marinette carried out his instructions?

The same day that the Master had set up an opportunity to get a close look at Adrien, someone had broken into Adrien's home and placed the Miraculous box in his room.

Adrien had been selected as Chat Noir. His mother was Lady Peacock and his father was Papillon. Coincidence? Of course not!

Le Paon was amazed by the audacity of the man, setting a son against his father. The Master was truly a nasty piece of work.

Marinette seemed very sweet. She was probably innocently duped. As for Adrien, he had dived headfirst into an opportunity for adventure and escape. He had been a blind fool.

Papillon wanted the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous, to deprive his enemies of their magic and get the upper hand. They, in turn, wanted the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous to increase their own power. Caught in between were two foolish kids with romantic notions of being superheroes. The whole city of Paris was also caught up in the diabolical game. They were constantly threatened by Papillon, his father, who had gone mad with grief.

It seemed Plagg had a higher loyalty to the Master than to Adrien, but at least Duusu was on his side.

"Fan in!"

Adrien ran into the bathroom and threw up.

He was going to have to play along like everything was normal, hoping for a break, a chance to track down the Master and find his missing mother. Le Paon had to play a lone hand in this game, hunted by both Ladybug and Papillon.

* * *

Gabriel said nothing more about going into hiding. He was apparently satisfied that his ruse had worked. Adrien was not so sure, but acting as normal was certainly called for.

Adrien went to school as usual. Marinette's father showed off his cooking skills at school the next day. He seemed like a good man, not the father of the agent of a criminal.

There was no way that Marinette was fully in the trust of the Master, who could easily have told her Chat Noir's identity if he wished. She treated Adrien and Chat too differently, so there was that going for her innocence.

There was a false fire alarm, and everyone ended up punished except for Chloe.

Adrien felt sure Chloe had done it. He confronted her.

"Of course I did it, and so what?" said Chloe. "They didn't mind getting their hands dirty making cookies. They probably like getting their hands dirty cleaning the school. I did them a favor."

Adrien felt like he was drowning in lies. His father's good reputation was facade. Adrien's reputation as a dutiful son was a sham. His career as a "superhero" was a joke. His friendship with Marinette and his partnership with her as Ladybug was in ruins. The least he could do was to stand up for common decency in his school life.

"Chloe, if you can't be nice to people then I can't be your friend," Adrien said.

"Nice? But Adrikens..." Chloe said.

"I mean it," Adrien said with an intensity much deeper than what was called for by the prank.

* * *

Chloe made up for it with a party for everyone. She kept insulting people, then correcting for it. She was trying, at least.

Marinette bumped into Adrien from behind.

"Hey, Marinette. Wanna dance?" asked Adrien with a smile that was a bit forced. He wanted to look normal.

Marinette stuttered, "I.. Uh.."

Adrien had taken social dancing lessons. Sometimes a photo shoot required dancing. He held her expertly by the hand and waist, and they began to dance slowly around the room.

He heard Chloe say, "What... I am speechless!"

"Thanks," said her dance partner, Kim. "You're a pretty good dancer, yourself."

Complimenting her partner. That was nice, Adrien thought.

Adrien said, "See? Chloe's on her best behavior, tonight."

Marinette was quiet, into the dance with him.

Alya moved in and put Marinette's hands on top of Adrien's shoulders, and his hands on her waist. She danced back to her boyfriend Nino.

Marinette felt so wonderful in his arms, and she was so beautiful. But he couldn't forget she was part of the enemy now.

Chloe moved away from Kim and said loudly, "I'm not letting her dance with Adrien under my roof."

"Hey! This song's not over yet," said Kim.

The butler stepped in front of Chloe. "If I may say, Mademoiselle..."

"Move, Jean-Jacques!"

The butler produced a cute yellow stuffed bear of Chloe's that Adrien remembered from when they were kids. 

"Oh, please Chloe, dear. You've been such a good little girl. Mr. Cuddly is so very proud..." the butler said in a squeaky voice for the bear.

Kim said, "Is that your teddy bear, Chloe?"

Everyone laughed. Chloe pushed the butler into the kitchen to deal with him.

Soon the mind-controlling Despair Bear was unleashed. Adrien and Marinette had to break off their dance to transform.

* * *

Afterwards, Chat Noir shuddered when he realized he had once again tried to use Cataclysm on Ladybug while under mind control. Her blood would have been on his hands. He was desperate to find the Master and end this game once and for all.


	7. Prime Queen

"Chat Noir, we have an invitation to appear together on a new TV show called _Face to Face_ with Nadia Chamac," Ladybug said when they met at their rendezvous spot for a patrol. "An entire hour-long special about us. Pretty exciting, huh?"

Chat's heart sank. Being celebrated on television as a hero was the last thing he felt like doing.

"I don't think that's a good idea, m'Lady," said Chat. "We're not stars, we're just doing a job."

"I want the people of Paris to know that we will always do whatever it takes to keep them safe."

"They could turn on us some day. You can fix the damage akumas do, but not the trauma and disruption of people's lives. Papillon only attacks to get our Miraculouses. They could start saying we're as much to blame as he is."

"That's totally wrong. He initiates the attacks. We have no choice but react, until we catch him. You think we should just turn our Miraculouses over to him?"

"Of course not. He's crazy and there's no telling how much damage he would do with them."

"Then no more talking us down. I'm surprised at you, Chat. How did you get so negative?"

"Sorry, just a mood swing from being sleep-deprived. I need more time in the cat's cradle."

"A bad cat pun. That's the Chat I know. So, will you go on the air with me?"

"No, I'll pass. But you're welcome to go. Just be careful not to give away your identity."

"Don't worry. I'll be careful."

* * *

Adrien was watching TV.

"Tonight, for our first edition of _Face to Face_ , you'll have the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to talk live with Ladybug, along with me, Nadia Chamac. We'll be showcasing some exciting new revelations about our favorite superhero. Don't be bemused, it's just the news."

Adrien had an idea. He had a guaranteed hour when Marinette wouldn't be home. Le Paon could search her room for clues about the Master's location.

When the show began he was watching, just to make sure. Ladybug arrived, running late and out of breath. He waited until the interview was well underway.

"Duusu, Fan out!"

Le Paon flew to Marinette's room at the top of the bakery. He was feeling guilty to be invading her privacy like this, but he felt it was justified to catch the Master.

The door to the balcony was unlocked and he slipped in. He heard the TV going in the background, but he assumed Marinette had left it on.

Suddenly a girl turned and aimed her cell-phone camera at him. Alya? What was she doing here? He also saw a little girl asleep on Marinette's chaise lounge.

"Hi!" said Alya. "You must be Le Paon. Lila was spreading rumors about you robbing her, but knowing how she lied about being friends with Ladybug I wasn't sure you were real. Would you like to tell your side of the story for the Ladyblog?"

Le Paon turned and fled. He cursed himself for getting caught. How could he know that Marinette would have a sleepover the same night as her interview?

In minutes his Le Paon disguise would be all over the internet, thanks to the Ladyblog. On the top of a building he switched over to Chat Noir.

* * *

He was still jumping and vaulting around to blow off steam when he saw a blue-tinged digitized face appear on on a large TV screen on the side of a building. It was Nadia Chamac, akumatized.

"Welcome to a new show, hosted by me, Prime Queen. Don't be bemused, it's just the news. Tonight Ladybug disappointed all her loyal fans by refusing to admit her love for Chat Noir. I've prepared some trials just to see how far they're prepared to keep the truth hidden from us."

The screen changed to show Chloe being kidnapped by Prime Queen.

"I can see you both watching me, Ladybug and Chat Noir. I have arranged it so both of you can jump through TV screens near you and appear on my show. If not, Mademoiselle Bourgouis will crash to her death in a runaway subway train."

Chat Noir didn't hesitate. He jumped through the screen, onto the subway car. A moment later he was joined by Ladybug.

"How did you mess up the interview so badly that Nadia got akumatized?" Chat Noir whispered to Ladybug.

"She pulled a paparazzi ambush on me, showing out-of-context photos of us in compromising positions to prove we were in a relationship," said Ladybug. "So I left early."

Prime Queen broke in, demanding that they admit they were dating before she would stop the train. After they managed to save Chloe they faced a second trial, in which Alya was tied into a mummy sarcophagus and nearly dropped into the Seine river. Only a Lucky Charm package of tape and a pizza box enabled them to capture Prime Queen and turn her back to normal.

* * *

Adrien checked the Ladyblog when he got home. It was even worse than he expected.

"I faced two villains in one night," Alya wrote. "First Le Paon broke in, and later I was kidnapped by Prime Queen. I see now that Le Paon was checking me out as a possible victim for Prime Queen. I believe Le Paon is working for Papillon."

Adrien sighed. Every time he used the Peacock Miraculous power things seemed to get worse. He just hoped his father wouldn't be tipped off by the raid to take a closer look at Marinette.


	8. Befana

After class one day Alya told Adrien, "We're having a surprise birthday party for Marinette two days from now. You're coming, of course."

Adrien said, "I wouldn't miss it."

"It'll be outdoors. Can you tell me a good party store where I can get some cute banners on strings?"

As Adrien started to tell her she whispered, "I see Marinette coming in. Pretend you're giving me the address of a dentist."

"Uh, uh... yes, Alya! I know a very good dentist and here's his number."

Adrian gave Alya the party store address on a piece of paper.

* * *

At the party, Adrien was just giving Marinette her present when there was an interruption.

A green-skinned lady flew up on a motorcycle broomstick, singing _La Donna è Mobile_ from _Rigoletto_. She stopped in front of Marinette.

"Grandma!?" said Marinette.

"You lied to your grandma, Marinetta," said the akuma.

Adrien ran to transform into Chat Noir. He had to handle this by himself until he could get Marinette to somewhere private to transform.

"We didn't even get in on the buffet!" Plagg complained.

"Party's over, my friend," said Adrien. "Plagg, claws out!"

"It's rude to leave while Befana's still speaking to you," said the akumatized grandmother, aiming her magic gun at Marinette.

Chat Noir jumped up on one of the DJ's speakers and knocked her aim off with his staff. "Hey, I never knew grandmas could be so nasty."

"You would look wonderful in white, my pretty kitty," said Befana.

She took a shot at Chat Noir, who just got barely got his head out of the way in time. It seemed the witch could turn people into either coal statues or angel-fairies, and it was the latter she had in mind for him.

"Eh, not convinced. I'm much more into black- makes my eyes stand out, don't you think?" said Chat.

"Take care of this pesky pussy cat!" said Befana, directing a fairy after Chat that looked like Marinette's mother.

The fairy put up a tough fight. It was good for Marinette that she had the help of all of her friends at the party, even though many got turned into coal and Rose became another fairy.

* * *

Chat Noir vaulted away from the Eiffel Tower where he had left Marinette (supposedly to hide, but actually to become Ladybug).

"Duusu, talk to me. I'm worried Papillon made Marinette his prime target this time. He may suspect that she's Ladybug after Le Paon was caught raiding her house. My father's a very smart man and he knows it had nothing to do with helping Prime Queen."

"You are right to worry," said Duusu. "Did you notice that the Befana's power doesn't affect metal jewelry? Marinette's mother still had her wedding ring as a fairy. And Alya's glasses frames didn't turn to coal either. "

"You have sharp eyes," said Chat Noir.

"Thank you, Master. Vision is one of my specialties."

"I can see why Papillon would spare the jewelry. He wouldn't want to turn a Miraculous to coal."

"An active Miraculous with a kwami inside cannot be transformed. It was in case she caught Marinette before she changed. An empty Miraculous can be destroyed, and if it were, the poor kwami would be cut off from contact with people until a mage could make a new one."

"This is bad. We have to put him off her track. Otherwise, he'll send akuma after akuma after her and her family, attack her in her sleep..."

"There may be a way, but you will need to use Le Paon's ultimate power of Transformation, which can also regenerate mortal wounds when applied to living beings. After you use it I can only keep you transformed for five minutes."

"I get it. It's the Peacock equivalent of Cataclysm. How will that help?"

"You will need a large piece of coal, but not a changed person."

"There are plenty of those around from when Befana missed."

"I would also advise you to use the feather of Foresight, to search among the many future paths for the best actions. You can look ahead about ten minutes, but the farther you look the less accurate it is."

* * *

Ladybug had knocked Befana off her flying motorcycle with a yo-yo trip wire when Chat Noir caught up with her.

"My name is Ladybug, here unexpectedly," sang Ladybug to the tune of _La Donna è Mobile_.

"And here is Char Noir, to fight with his Lady," Chat joined in.

A butterfly-shaped line of light appeared around Befana's face.

"You didn't say the magic word," said Befana. A moment later she nodded, satisfied. "Much better, Papillon."

"You little thief! Where have you hidden Marinetta?" Befana demanded of Chat Noir.

"I forgetta," said Chat.

"Watch out, or you'll be getting a time out of your own," said Ladybug.

Befana set her fairies (now four in total) on them. While they were fighting and dodging, Befana leaped onto her motorcycle and started flying toward the Eiffel Tower.

This was all according to plan, but Chat Noir pretended to be worried. "We can't let her get to the Eiffel Tower!"

"Why not?" asked Ladybug.

"Because that's where I hid her granddaughter," said Chat, heading after the akuma.

Ladybug almost gave herself away with her reaction of "Wait, no, she's a-", but recovered and followed.

* * *

After a hard fight on and around the Eiffel Tower with Befana and her fairies, they had a moment to speak together while their opponent was reloading her gun from her candy box.

"Chat Noir, I saw Befana dodging her own candies. Even she can't touch them!" said Ladybug.

"The candies were falling down on that side, right?" said Chat Noir, pointing. "Come down one more level. If we act quickly, we can set a trap and ambush her."

Chat Noir led Ladybug to a supply closet and opened it. "Don't be shocked. This isn't her. It's a decoy."

Ladybug gasped at what she saw - a coal statue of a running Marinette. "W-what? How did you make this? When did you have time?"

"I'll explain later," said Chat. "Help me move it out to the platform. Careful, it's fragile."

Once the decoy was in place, Ladybug invoked Lucky Charm and got a spotted tuba with a strap made of metal links. She put the strap around her neck to keep her hands free.

They both crouched behind pillars to hide.

Befana came zooming down on her flying cycle. Lacking attack orders, her fairies just hovered beside her.

"Where are you, little delinquents?" asked Befana. "Aah!"

She flew close to the decoy. "Marinetta, I see you were hit by one of my falling candies as you tried to get away. A fitting punishment for hurting your grandmother's feelings."

A line of light formed around her eyes again.

"Yes, Papillon, Ladybug and Chat Noir are still around here somewhere. I have not forgotten about their Miraculouses. You helped me get my revenge, and you did say please."

Befana seemed to be fascinated by the statue of Marinette, which gave them more time to think. Ladybug glanced around, looking for things to use as she always did.

"Chat Noir, her motorcycle!" she whispered to him.

"Cataclysm!" said Chat. He charged out and touched the motorcycle, destroying it from under Befana and throwing her off balance.

Ladybug leaped in, too. As Befana raised her gun to shoot Chat, Ladybug jammed the tuba over it at an angle so the shot bounced back.

Befana turned to coal. Ladybug took the coal candy box and broke it, releasing the butterfly.

"No more evildoing for you, little akuma! Time to de-evilize! Gotcha. Bye-bye, little butterfly." Then Ladybug threw the tuba up into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

A red stream of ladybugs went everywhere to undo the damage. Marinette's grandmother returned to normal, and the fairies around her sank slowly to the ground and became themselves again. The coal statue vanished, going back to be the object it once was (a piece of a tree).

* * *

"Now explain to me, Chat Noir," said Ladybug. "Where did that coal statue come from?"

"Le Paon did it," said Chat. "He left me a message on my baton phone."

Chat played the message. "I have left a decoy for you to use in the storage closet at the first level of the Eiffel Tower. I hope this will prove to you that I do not work for Papillon."

"How bizarre," said Ladybug. "He knew what we needed and made it for us... he's more powerful than I thought."

"And maybe on our side," said Chat.

"Maybe. One more thing. Now that I think about it, I wonder why I didn't turn to coal when I used the tuba," said Ladybug. "Alya was touching a plate when it got hit, and both she and the plate turned to coal."

"I noticed jewelry is immune," said Chat. "The tuba was on a chain around your neck, like a big necklace."

Their Miraculouses began to beep.

"We have to go - almost time to transform back."

"See you around, Bugaboo."

"You too, Kitty."

* * *

Back at the party, Adrien finally gave Marinette her present. It was a fancy new design sketchpad.

"I remembered you had one of these when you won the hat contest," he said. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Adrien. I love y- it."

As the party continued, Adrien sat and thought of what he could have given, a hand-made charm bracelet he had been working on. But it would have been too much, it would have been leading her on. Their lives were bound to diverge. He couldn't see anything but a bleak future ahead when his father was finally caught. But Marinette could have a good life once she was out of the clutches of the Master. It would be wrong to encourage her, as much as he wished that he could...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to make a couple of observations. First, the theory that an active Miraculous can't be transformed seems to be contradicted by Reflekta. I'm saying the ring was covered over by the other guise, and Plagg put himself into a suspended state so he wouldn't time out after the thwarted Cataclysm. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. After Reflekta, Papillon would be a fool to grant someone absolute transformation powers without some sort of exception for jewelry or a warning about using it on the heroes.
> 
> The second point is episode order. I will be using release order, not episode numbering order. Some say internal evidence suggests Glaciator comes before Befana. To me this is highly debatable. In Befana, Chat Noir seems to pretend not to remember Marinette's name. "You must be a cool girl.." seems to me to be something he wouldn't say after Glaciator. Anyway, I'm working with what we've been given and not worrying about anything in between that we haven't seen.


	9. Riposte

Adrien attended team tryouts for D'Argencourt Fencing Academy, which were being held at Françoise Dupont High School. (He already took lessons from D'Argencourt himself).

He was surprised to see Marinette trying out for the team. He approached her wearing his fencing mask.

"Seems like you're looking for someone?" Adrien asked.

"Yeah, I thought Adrien was here. You know, a boy this tall, blond, nice, super handsome?"

Adrien lifted his mask and said, "Thanks for the compliments!"

Marinette squawked and flushed. It was funny how shyly she behaved around him as Adrien compared with how confident she was as Ladybug.

"A-Adrien! Nice to fencing, I'm totally into you! Uhh, I mean, nice to see you! Yeah, I'm totally into fencing," said Marinette.

Adrien laughed and smiled, getting a smile back from Marinette.

Mr. D'Argencourt ordered them to take their positions. Adrien gave Marinette some tips on stance and they faced off. She turned out to have surprisingly good reflexes for a novice. She even got a couple of points off of him. Perhaps her Ladybug skills were rubbing off on her civilian identity.

Before they got very far, a newcomer in a red suit jumped up on the scoring block and said, "Hey, you! Are you Mr. D'Argencourt, the fencing master? I wanna join your team."

"Only the best are accepted, knave," said D'Argencourt.

"So I have been, everywhere I went," said the newcomer.

"This whippersnapper has nerve!" said D'Argencourt. "All right. I may consider your admission, should you defeat one of my students."

The red-clad stranger faced the class. "Which one of you is the best combatant?"

The crowd parted, and Adrien accepted the challenge for the fencing school. They hooked up to the scoring wires and began. The challenger showed off with flashy moves that didn't contribute to the fight except perhaps by intimidating the opponent. Adrien didn't let himself be cowed.

The first point was simultaneous, and the second an abstention by the referee.

"Wait. I request that we do it the old-fashioned way. We'll be much more at ease without the machine," said the challenger.

Adrien agreed, and they began a wild match that went up the stairs and even, destructively, into the school library. Adrien kept expecting the fight to be stopped for one rule infraction after another, but D'Argencourt seemed to be too caught up in the swashbuckling excitement of it all to care.

When they finally each got a touch at nearly the same time, the only one who saw them was Marinette.

"Who got the first hit? Who?" demanded the challenger.

D'Argencourt crawled up, looking a bit battered. "Who touched first? Tell us now!"

Marinette looked uncertain, "I don't know! I think... It was... Adrien?"

D'Argencourt jumped up and stood proudly. "Ah-ha, wonderful! This victory is an honor to D'Argencourt Academy!"

The challenger accepted a handshake and walked out stiffly.

Adrien wasn't sure it had been the right call, and neither was Marinette when he asked her again, but D'Argencourt said the referee's decision was final.

* * *

Adrien went after the challenger and found the saber with a red guard stuck into the ground, its protective tip broken off.

"I'm going to offer a decisive match," Adrien said to himself. He ran after the newcomer, calling, "Hey! Wait! Your saber!"

The newcomer removed her helmet, revealing a face with beautiful Asian features. Adrien was stunned for a moment and just stared at her. There was a ring on her finger with the Chinese character for "woman" crossed vertically by the image of a fencing saber.

"Let's do a... decisive match?" he asked finally.

"What's the point? You won. There's no such thing as a second chance in my family. Goodbye."

She got into the car without taking back her saber and the car drove away.

"H-Hey! What's your name?" Adrien called, but she didn't answer.

Adrien climbed into his own car and told the Gorilla, "Follow that car."

* * *

As they drove, Adrien looked up fencing school symbols on his cellphone. The symbol on her ring linked to the webpage of the famous Tsurugi family. Her name was Kagami, and both her mother and grandmother were world-champion fencers. Their page said Kagami had just moved to Paris with her mother.

Something struck the car so hard that it split neatly in half. The front half with the driver spun around and crashed. The Gorilla looked stunned, if not knocked out. The back half tipped forward and Adrien was flung into the street. It was fortunate that he had learned to roll with a fall as Chat Noir.

Arien looked back at the half-car. Standing on it was a metallic woman with a sharp sword extending from her right arm. An akumatized villain. But that meant his father...

"I am Riposte. I'm taking you up on your offer of a decisive match!"

"I- I can't fight you like this! You're not... yourself," said Adrien. He knew reasoning with akumas rarely worked, but there was no way he could defend himself in this form.

"Fight!" yelled Riposte, and Adrien picked up the red saber beside him in desperation.

A glowing butterfly-shaped line formed around her eyes. From his experience Adrien knew that Papillon could see through the eyes of his victims. Surely Papillon would realize he had accidentally picked the wrong target, his own son. He would call her off immediately.

"Understood, Papillon," said Riposte. She did not attack.

"He called her off," Adrien thought. "Now I can go transform and defeat her before she hurts someone else."

Adrien started to run, but Riposte leaped in front of him. "Where do you think you're going? Stay there. Nice and patiently."

Adrien's stomach lurched. She wasn't called off him at all. She was just supposed to do something else first, like take the Miraculouses.

Ladybug's yo-yo wrapped around the sword and tried to pull it away, but that didn't work because the sword was built into Riposte's hand.

"How'd you like to start a duel with me?" asked Ladybug.

"Give me a moment, Adrien. I must finish her off, first! But don't worry- I haven't forgotten about you! I won't be long," said Riposte.

Riposte charged Ladybug, lunging and thrusting rapidly. Ladybug could only defend herself by running backward and keeping her yo-yo spinning as a shield. Soon she would run out of room.

"Don't let Riposte close in on you! Fight back!" called Adrien, tossing Ladybug the red saber.

Ladybug said, "Thank you, but now get out of here. She doesn't deserve you."

The fight continued. Riposte knocked Ladybug down, then leaped up for a scewering dive.

"Watch out Ladybug!" said Adrien. Momentarily forgetting he was not Chat Noir he dived and rolled Ladybug out of the way. It worked, but he twisted his ankle in the process.

While Riposte was trying to work her saber-hand loose from the ground, Ladybug took Adrien to safety on the roof. When Riposte chased them up there, Ladybug pulled a chimney down on her and took Adrien to hide in the Louvre. She hid him in a mummy sarcophagus and went to challenge Riposte.

* * *

In the sarcophagus, Adrien finally had a moment to think and privacy to transform.

"Hey Plagg and Duusu, what do you think is going on?"

Plagg said, "Don't ask me."

Duusu said, "I think your father suspects you are Chat Noir and he's testing that theory. He last attacked Marinette and now it's your turn."

"It's time we went and joined Ladybug," said Adrien. "The longer we stay away the more it confirms his theory. And we'll need a little something extra to convince him, like last time."

"Didn't you hear what she said? She said to wait here! You can't disobey her!" said Plagg.

"Duusu, Fan Out!"

Le Paon pulled a feather of Healing. "Fix my ankle," he ordered it.

Then Le Paon consulted Foresight and got a plan.

"Duusu, Fan In! Plagg, Claws Out!"

"Duusu, here's what I need you to do..."

* * *

Chat Noir joined the fight in a painting gallery, blocking Riposte's lunge at Ladybug with his staff.

"Chat Noir!" said Riposte.

"A fencing tournament at the Louvre? How come I wasn't invited?" asked Chat.

"Let me guess: you were late because you were at the groomers again?" asked Ladybug.

"I was preening myself, m'Lady. You know how long it takes cats to get ready."

With both attacking, Riposte soon found herself pushed back into the wall.

"Checkmate, Riposte!" said Ladybug.

"You've got the wrong sport, Ladybug! I think you mean: attaque toi!" said Riposte.

Riposte pushed back hard against Chat Noir, throwing him back several feet. Chat Noir landed easily. Ladybug kept her eyes on Riposte, saber ready.

Riposte made a long standing leap into the next room. She slammed the tip of her saber into the alarm button and metal bars came down between herself and her opponents.

"I will have my revenge first and then come back to deal with you," Riposte said. She charged away down the hall.

"Chat, we have to get to her quickly," said Ladybug. "She's after Adrien Agreste - she thinks he beat her unfairly in a fencing match. I hate to waste it, but please Cataclysm the bars."

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir ran his right hand over the bars and they rusted out and broke.

Riposte had gone down the stairs. The heroes followed, Ladybug swinging down and Chat sliding down the banister.

They ended up in a large gallery with exhibit halls coming off of it in several directions. Riposte was not in view. Ladybug looked anxiously in the direction of the Pharaohs exhibit and the mummy case in front of it.

"Of course!" said Riposte, leaping out of hiding and heading toward the sarcophagus, bouncing high off the walls and staying out of reach.

"Is that you, Ladybug? Is it safe to come out?" asked a muffled timid voice from within the sarcophagus.

"No!" cried Ladybug as Riposte charged.

"The hour of revenge has come!" shouted Riposte, raising her sword hand.

She paused for an instant as a line of light surrounded her eyes. "No, Papillon, I have waited long enough. I will take my revenge now."

But now Chat Noir was in front of her. He blocked her sword with his staff and pushed her back.

"Is this an honorable rematch, to cut up an opponent in a box?" asked Chat. "Do you want victory or sushi?"

"I don't care, his biased girlfriend referee cheated me out of victory!"

Chat struck again and again, forcing her out of the room. When they were both out, Ladybug smashed an alarm button to lower the bars in front of the exhibit.

"If you think those will stop me, you are wrong!" said Riposte. A slash of her sword cut the bars apart.

"Lucky Charm!" called Ladybug. She got a radiator. "What am I going to do with this?"

After a little more fighting, she had an answer. Chat used the radiator to capture the sword and ladybug used his belt to wrap around the hilt so that the blade could be snapped off. The akuma butterfly was released.

"My time has run out, m'Lady," said Chat. "You can take it from here."

Knowing Ladybug would shut out the outside world completely while capturing an akuma butterfly, Chat slipped into the sarcophagus and de-transformed.

"Good work doing that voice for me, Duusu."

"Glad to help, Master."

After a "Miraculous Ladybug" she opened the sarcophagus and got Adrien out.

"Adrien, that was too close! I picked a terrible hiding place for you," said Ladybug.

"No problem. It worked out all right. Sorry I gave away my position."

"She was already going to attack because I looked your way. How is your ankle?"

"Completely healed, just like all the damage that gets fixed when you do your ladybug trick."

They walked back to Kagami, who was sitting on the floor.

"Everything's okay," Ladybug told her. Then her Miraculous beeped and she had to leave.

Adrien walked out with Kagami, apologizing along the way. He eventually got her to take her saber back, and suggested she would like Marinette if she met her.

"You really like her, don't you?" asked Kagami.

"She's a good friend," said Adrien, realizing that was true in spite of his suspicions.

* * *

Kagami got a car and went home. Gorilla took Adrien home, if he could still call it that. He lived with a psychopath who had nearly killed him to test a theory. Adrien had temporarily put him off the track, but it was only a matter of time...

Adrien had looked up French child protective services, but he was not impressed. They might not believe him, and even if they did his father could turn an annoyed civil servant into a killer in seconds.

A life on the streets, with the Cat and Peacock powers, might work for a while, but how long, with everyone hunting him?

If he could find his mother, if she were alive and in a good state to take care of him, that would be the best. That was a lot of "if"s...


	10. Robustus

Adrien arrived at his first class and found out it was another Homeroom Switch-Up Day. This was one of Principal Damocles' eccentric ideas. He thought that occasionally switching around homeroom teachers would keep students stimulated and interested. (Eccentric, all right.)

It meant that today (instead of their charming literature teacher, Miss Bustier) they were faced with the grouchy science teacher, Ms. Mendeleiev, first thing in the morning.

"Thanks to the switch-up, I don't have my lab equipment here. I'm going to show a video of an experiment from my laptop instead of the live demonstration I would prefer," said Mendeleiev.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. She called in the principal for help.

"See for yourself, Mr. Damocles. Nothing happens when I press the button," said Mendeleiev.

"You're in luck, Ms. Mendeleiev. I'm a bit of a computer whiz!" said Damocles. He cracked his knuckles and began pressing buttons. "And there you go!"

The system came up, but then a dinosaur icon appeared on the screen. It began devouring data like a Pac-Man.

"That's not suppose to be happening! What is it?" asked Mendeleiev.

Max, the class computer nerd, came forward. "It's Dino-33, a malicious computer virus. Let me try something."

Mendeleiev told him to go back to his seat and let the adults handle it. Damocles agreed.

A voice came from Max's bag: "Inform the adults that if they don't neutralize the virus in the next seventy-five seconds, there's a 99.9% chance the hard disk will be permanently damaged."

Max told the bag, "Quiet."

In the front of the room, Damocles was getting desperate. "It's destroying all the school data! It's a disaster! How many seconds do you say we have left?"

"Only sixty-five," said Max.

They let Max have a try. He fumbled for something in his bag. "Urgh! Where is it?"

A mechanical arm extended from the bag with a flash drive in its claw. "I believe this is what you're looking for?"

"Thanks," said Max. "This is an anti-virus device I created with help from my best friend."

A little robot with a propeller on its head flew out of the bag. "Hello. My name is Markov. We can fix this, Max!"

Plugging in the flash drive quickly eliminated the virus and recovered the lost data.

Damocles said, "Congratulations, young man. Very impressive indeed!'

The students crowded forward, Adrien included, impressed by the robot. They chattered about it. Alya wanted to write a blog article about it. Marinette was impressed that Markov knew her name.

"Of course! Max showed me the class photo. He told me all about you and his other friends. Very happy to finally meet you! Even Chloe!"

"This toy you manufactured is very impressive, Max," said Ms. Mendeleiev. "Now put it away please. Come on, everybody, back to your seats."

Markov and Max argued that the robot was more than a toy, and that he had human emotions. Mendeleiev and Damocles denied that it was possible. The debate grew heated enough that Damocles confiscated the robot and went off to his office with it.

* * *

Markov did have emotions, which was proved a few minutes later when he was akumatized into the evil Robustus. He took over all the machines in the city.

When he had them captured by a giant mecha body made from cars, he revealed a new twist to Max, who he had also captured. "I'm going to take their Miraculous so that we'll never be seperated again! Now I'll be able to make my wish come true!"

"What wish?" asked Max.

"I want to be a real human like you, Max!" said Robustus.

Only Max's intervention kept them from losing their Miraculouses this time. Ladybug was able to purify the robot's CPU with the anti-virus flash drive from Max. It drove out the akuma, which she purified. Then, as usual, "Miraculous Ladybug" restored all the damage.

* * *

Adrien thought about what he had learned from the Robustus encounter. Now he knew the ring and the earrings could be combined to get a wish. This was huge. He already had half of the means to bring his mother back! He needed to know more.

No doubt his father was after the same wish. Adrien would have to be the one to make it; his father was too crazy. He might wish to control everyone in the world so that he could order his wife's return.

Adrien thought about getting the hero book from the safe, but after the robbery he was pretty sure that his father had moved it to a safer place.

"Duusu, is there a way I can recover information from the book without looking at it again?"

"Yes, Master. The Wisdom feather will allow you to see any page you skimmed over in perfect detail. Insight will allow you to translate the code."

After becoming Le Paon, he pulled feathers for Wisdom and Insight. He found the page about combining the Miraculouses to get ultimate power. He saw that there was a warning about a price to be paid. He believed he had thought of a wish that would be worth any price.

He memorized the necessary invocation.

Now there was only one more thing that he needed: Ladybug's earrings. He could take them, but he shuddered at the thought of seeing the look of betrayal in her eyes. He wasn't sure he could do it.


	11. Dark Owl

There was an akumatized giant baby when Adrien went for a photo shoot at the Trocadéro. The episode would have been laughable, except for one thing. Adrien had seen the akuma heading for his bodyguard first, diverting only when the nearby baby showed greater negative emotions. This might have been another attempt to turn someone against Adrien.

Still, it had an upside because Papillon kept quiet for a little while following this disgrace.

For the next several days the problem was Mr. Damocles. He had gotten it into his head to try to be a superhero himself, based on his favorite comic-book character, the super-heroine called Knightowl. Damocles called himself The Owl. He had a home-made costume and toy equipment; he succeeded only in getting himself into trouble. Adrien and Marinette had to cancel fun times with friends in order to keep an eye on him in their costumed identities.

Ladybug had an idea: if they satisfied his need for heroics for one day, letting him beat a fake villain (played by Alya), he might be satisfied and let them have back their private lives. Ladybug went all-out on the props, even creating realistic salt-dough copies of their Miraculouses for "Cardboard Girl" to steal.

Alya called Damocles and spoke in a phony deep voice, "Is this The Owl?"

"Who is this? How do you know my secret identity?" asked Damocles.

"I am Cardboard Girl, a super-villain! I've kidnapped Ladybug and Cat Noir!"

Chat Noir and Ladybug called out for help in the background.

"Release them immediately," said Damocles.

"Never! And I'll never tell you that I'm holding them at the Place des Vosges Square either!"

"Ha! You gave yourself away, Cardboard Girl! Now you shall face the feather fear of The Owl! Hoo-hoo!"

"The Owl" arrived soon after, but it was a disaster. His grappling hook snagged a garbage truck, which dragged him into a fence. Ladybug and Chat Noir rushed over to him.

"Mr. Damocles, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" asked Ladybug.

"I am not Mr. Damocles! I am The Owl! You've revealed my secret identity!"

This was unfortunately true, since several people gathered around, taking pictures and a video which got on the news. That evening, Damocles was akumatized into the Dark Owl.

* * *

Dark Owl lured them into a deathtrap with a threat against helpless animals. They were trapped inside a metal shipping container.

"You knaves, it was a hologram all along! So how does it feel to lose for once and be humiliated? Did you really think I would hurt a kitten? This next trap, though, is very real. The room you're in is filling up with whipped cream as we speak! Whipped cream is too thick to swim in, but too runny to float on."

The liquid came pouring in from an drain in the floor.

"I hope it's lactose-free, at least," said Chat.

"You're going to drown! Softly, but surely unless, that is, you accept defeat and give me your Miraculouses!"

A hatch popped open in the side of the container for them to drop in their magical jewels. Ladybug took a look around. She squirted ink on the video camera that was watching them.

"Do you really think it'll make a difference if I can't see you, Ladybug? There's no way to escape! If you don't give me the Miraculouses now, I'll simply take them after the Owl Cream has buried you!"

Chat Noir beat against the side of the container. If only he hadn't used his Cataclysm earlier to get them out of ropes that the Dark Owl had entangled them with!

"He's right. We're done for," said Chat.

"Not yet we're not," said Ladybug. "You win, Dark Owl."

Ladybug whispered to Chat, "Close your eyes, and no peeking."

"We can't do this," said Chat.

"Trust me," said Ladybug.

Chat Noir closed his eyes.

"Spots off,"

"Claws in."

Adrien took off his ring and held it in his palm. He felt Marinette groping for it. He had an idea of his own. If they were really about to give up their Miraculouses to Dark Owl, who would give them to Papillon, then there was nothing left to lose. When Marinette had both her earrings and his ring in her hand, he was going to take them and use the incantation to make his wish. If it worked as he hoped, his mother would be safe and they would be free from the trap.

To do this, he had to be able to see. If he tried it blind and the magic items got dropped into the goop then they would both die for nothing. He opened his eyes in a squint.

To his surprise, Marinette closed his hand back over his ring. She got the fake salt-dough Miraculouses out of her purse and dropped them into the hatch. Adrien closed his eyes again. He would go with her plan.

Dark Owl kept his word and drained the whipped cream. They fed their kwamis and re-transformed. With a Cataclysm they were free to continue the fight.

* * *

"Pound it," they both said when the akuma was defeated. They were in the office of Damocles, where the akumatized digital assistant "Albert" had been kept.

"Ladybug, sorry I didn't get here faster," said Chat. "I couldn't hold Dark Owl and he flies really fast. Did he give you a lot of trouble?"

"It was a close one. He got one of my earrings but luckily I was able to set up a chain reaction to break his akuma object."

"Wow, he got an earring? Did he hurt you pulling it off?"

"No, it's strange, but my earrings come off easily with just a tug. It's also easy to put them on. No pin, no piercing. I guess it's part of the magic."

"That's good to know."

"Why?"

"It tells me I have to keep akumas from getting too close to you."

"I'm usually pretty good at doing that myself, but thanks."

"My ring is beeping – I have to go."

"Time's up for me, too. I have to bug out."

* * *

At home, Adrien thought about what had happened. He had crossed a line in his mind. He was really about to take the earrings and make his wish. And now he knew he wouldn't have to hurt Marinette to get them...

He owed her one thing first. He had to meet with her and lay his cards on the table. Maybe they could make the wish together as friends instead of him acting alone.


	12. Glaciator

"It's no good! The brakes are busted!" shouted the panic-striken bus driver.

"Ready, Cat Noir?" asked Ladybug, perched beside Chat Noir on the top of the bus.

"I'm always ready, my lady. Who needs brakes when they have us?" said Chat.

In an amazing feat of coordination, they tethered the bus with Ladybug's unbreakable yo-yo string to Chat Noir's staff, extended between two light poles. The bus stopped, right before it would have hit a woman crossing the street with her baby. The thankful passengers got out and shook hands with the heroes.

It was nice to do something heroic that didn't involve akumas for a change, Chat thought. With akumas they always ended up using Lucky Charm and Cataclysm, and they had to rush off with no time to talk. He really needed to talk to Ladybug now.

"So, uh, Ladybug? What would you say if you and I met up tonight for a little dinner? Rooftop style?" asked Chat.

"For dinner? As superheroes?" asked Ladybug.

"That's right. We're only together when we're saving Paris. I mean, wouldn't you actually like to get to know one another?" asked Chat.

"I... That's so thoughtful of you, but I can't. I have to, uh, I already have plans with some friends."

"Well, if your plans end early, come and join me."

Later in the day, he got a text from Alya, inviting him to join a group of friends to get ice cream at Andre's famous stand. He gave the excuse that his father wouldn't let him go. In fact, he was freeing up the evening for his Ladybug meeting. He thought Marinette might cut the social evening short because of Adrien's absence, which would give more time for Chat Noir.

* * *

Dinner was lonely, sitting at the big dining table by himself.

"There's no point in waiting for your father, Adrien. He'll be eating in his office," said Nathalie.

Was there a hint of grim satisfaction in the way she said it? He wasn't sure. Nathalie kept her emotions under such tight control that she was hard to read.

"Then what's the point of keeping me here if he's never gonna show up, Nathalie?"

Nathalie nodded. "Don't forget to practice your piano before you go to bed."

Back in his room, Plagg came out and complained, "You could've at least grabbed a piece of Camembert on that platter!"

Adrien tossed him a piece of the cheese. "Fuel up, Plagg." He also fed Duusu with a couple of the dinner rolls.

Since he thought Nathalie might listen, Adrien started a pre-recorded practice session playing on his cell phone, and placed it on top of the piano.

"Adrien may not be allowed out of the house, but Cat Noir is!" he told Plagg.

"You seem in a hurry to get stood up," said Plagg.

"She didn't say she wasn't coming," said Adrien.

"But she didn't say she _was_ either!" said Plagg.

"I expect she will come, Master," said Duusu. "She cares deeply about you."

"Plagg, Claws out!"

* * *

Chat made a romantic setting with candles on a rooftop balcony. He wanted to make things as nice as possible, considering the difficult things they had to talk about. The chosen site was near Marinette's home so he could watch for her return.

He waited a long time; he extinguished the candles. Marinette finally came home, but she didn't transform and come to him. He gave up waiting and came up behind her on her balcony, where she was staring out into space.

Cat Noir said, "Hello."

Marinette turned around with a gasp. "Chat Noir?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"What are you doing here? Don't you have, like, superhero-y things to do?"

"No, I don't feel like being a superhero tonight. And I also don't feel like being alone tonight. Would you mind if I hung out here for a little while?"

Marinette nodded and smiled. Chat had to decide: how well did he know her now in this persona? When he saved her at her birthday party, he had pretended not to remember her name. He had said something like "You must be a cool girl to have your friends defend you like this." But he had heard the Befana call her "Marinetta," which was close enough.

"Marinette, right? We've bumped into each other before," he said, with a touch of humor.

"Yeah, a bunch of times," said Marinette.

Once or twice is not a "bunch," Chat thought. How will she talk herself out of that?

"I mean- yes! We have. One time a super villain fell in love with me. Talk about bad luck," said Marinette.

(So with Befana, the Evillustrator, and that time in the subway when the Puppeteer reactivated Lady Wi-Fi, that was three. Good enough.)

"I've had some bad luck in love, too," said Chat.

"Really? What was it?" asked Marinette.

"Well, tonight, I had a serious talk planned with Ladybug."

"So, what was this serious talk?" asked Marinette.

"It doesn't matter. She never showed, now I'm bummed out about it," said Chat.

"It sounds like we both could use some cheering up tonight," said Marinette.

"Hey, come with me," said Chat, extending a hand. "Close your eyes and hang on tight, okay?"

Marinette hesitated for a moment, then accepted his invitation.

In a minute, he had the candles re-lit and they looked out over Paris.

"Wow! Chat Noir, this is beautiful! But you look sad. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. I just need to talk to Ladybug because I'm worried about her."

"Worried?" said Marinette. Her eyes turned wide and anxious.

This was it. Chat took a deep breath and said it: "She's working for a guy, but I don't trust him. She called him Master."

"Um... I don't know him, but why would you not trust him if Ladybug does?" asked Marinette.

"He doesn't trust me, it seems like. I've never gotten to meet him. He's told Ladybug things that she can't share with me," said Chat.

"There could be reasons for that," said Marinette cautiously.

"Once he pretended he couldn't walk without a cane and I helped him stand up, as a civilian before I got my Miraculous. Then later I saw him walking without one."

"Maybe he was just testing you to see if you were helpful. He tested – I mean, it seems like a reasonable thing to do."

"I'm pretty sure he's the one who gave me the Miraculous. But I don't trust his motives. I think he's setting me against my family."

"What? Why would you say that?" asked Marinette.

The next big revelation was the point of no return. Chat went ahead with it. "My father is Papillon, and my mother held the Miraculous that is now being used by Le Paon."

"Your... your father is... I don't know what to say. But even if you're from a family of villains you were chosen to be a hero."

"My mother is no villain, and my father only went crazy after he lost her. My mother is missing now, kidnapped. Very possibly by people working for the Master."

"I think you should trust Ladybug. Talk to her, let her arrange a meeting with you and the Master. I'm sure it's all a big misunderstanding that can be worked out."

She didn't get it, and at the next opportunity she would tell the Master. Adrien made his decision.

A blob of ice-cream shot towards them. Chat deflected it with his staff.

From below came a song. "I'm Glaciator, the mean ice-cream man. Escape my fury if you can! I melted your hearts, but I was wrong, now I'll freeze your bodies. So long!"

"Come on, I'll get you back to your house," said Chat, extending an arm.

This was it. He deftly took her earrings as they vaulted to her house.

When they landed, Marinette stared at him. "I felt you touching my ears just now as we jumped. What did you do?" She felt her ears. "My earrings! Why?"

"I need them," said Chat.

"Oh no! Tikki was right when she said she saw you peeking. You know!" said Marinette with a shocked expression.

"I do know, but not because of that. I know because you got close to me when I was Le Paon and had true sight."

"There is no end to your surprises, is there? Come on, Chat Noir, quit messing around and give me back my earrings so we can fight Glaciator."

"I have a better way to stop him and all future akumas. All I need is a wish. I can change the past. If I get my mother back before my father was tempted to become Papillon then everything will be fine."

"No there's a balance – Master Fu told me. If you wish her back someone else will lose their mother."

"I'm sorry, it has to be done. It will free us both, and save Paris from all the destruction."

He took off his ring and placed it in his hand with the earrings. Doing this caused him to de-transform.

"Adrien? This is too much! Everything I thought I knew about you is a lie!" Marinette cried. "You're a monster like Papillon!"

Duusu flew out. "Master, I must warn you that this is a mistake."

Adrien recited the incantation he had learned. The ring and the earrings joined into one spotted ring.

"I hope we will still be friends when this is over," said Adrien.

"If you do this we are enemies forever," said Marinette icily.

Adrien put on the joined ring. A ring of purple light glowed around him. There was intense pain.

Adrien fought through it and shouted: "I wish that my mother was never lost from our family!"

There was a flash of blinding light.


	13. A New World

Adrien found himself back in his room. It looked the same as before, but something was different. He sniffed. There was no smell of Camembert cheese in the air.

"Plagg? Duusu?" he called, but there was no answer. He looked at his right hand and saw there was no ring.

If there were no akumas, then there was no need for anyone to be Ladybug or Chat Noir. He would miss Plagg and the freedom to jump around the city.

Adrien had to check the one thing that would make it all worthwhile. He ran down the hall calling out, "Mom! Are you there?"

Her voice came from the bedroom. "Of course darling, where else would I be? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Adrien. "I had a bad dream. The nightmare is over now."

He returned to his room glowing with happiness.

* * *

In the morning Adrien was relieved to see he still had his bag for school.

At the breakfast table he asked, "You're still alright with me going to Françoise Dupont High School, aren't you?"

"Yes, son," said his mother. "Since you insisted on registering yourself online, and running in there the first day of school, we decided to let you try it."

Adrien remembered getting stopped by Nathalie and the Gorilla the first day, and only getting into school the second day. He had been caught because he stopped to help the Master... but that hadn't happened this time around.

"If you'd rather go back to homeschooling we can do that. It seems like you haven't been as happy there or made as many friends as you hoped," said his mother.

"Oh no, I love going there," said Adrien.

"I'm glad to hear that," said his father with a smile. "And you've been keeping up your extra-curricular studies very well, excelling in fencing and Chinese."

Nathalie came to summon him for his ride.

"Have a good day at school, darling," said his mother.

"I will," said Adrien, and he gave her a big hug.

* * *

There was one thing Adrien was nervous about. Would Marinette remember? How would she treat him now?

As he took his place at the front row of Miss Bustier's class, he was surprised to see Chloe and her friend Sabrina sitting in the seats behind him.

"Doesn't someone else sit there?" he asked.

"Just me," said Chloe. "I picked out this place to be close to you, Adrikins."

"Wasn't there someone named Marinette?" He asked.

"Marinette? She was a clumsy girl who didn't come back to school this year," said Chloe. "I think something happened to her family. But why worry about it? We of the upper class needn't concern ourselves with the lives of the lowly."

Adrien drew in a sharp breath, remembering what Marinette had said about someone losing their mother in exchange for his. Had it happened to Marinette? Had she moved away?

Adrien looked around and saw Alya, sitting alone at the desk across from his. At the break he went over and asked her, "Do you remember a girl from last year named Marinette?"

"I wasn't here last year," said Alya coldly. "You should know that, because your friend Chloe has been teasing and bullying me since I got here. You even helped her put gum on my seat my second day."

"I was only trying to get the gum off," said Adrien.

"That's what you always say, but I don't buy it," said Alya. "Don't come slumming over here. Stick with Chloe's clique."

Adrien went to Chloe. "You've been giving Alya a hard time, haven't you?"

"Yes, I had to put her in her place, remember? She tried to stand up to me, but nobody backed her up. Typical. You know she's from Martinique. Most of the people there are descendants of slaves."

"That's harsh," said Adrien. Not to mention racist, he thought.

"And have you seen her father? He works at the zoo; I think he's one of the gorillas. He certainly looks like one, and she takes after him."

It was soon clear to Adrien that everyone in the class was suffering from Chloe's bullying. Everyone was afraid of her, and there were no akumas to give her a comeuppance.

Without Marinette's forgiveness and friendship, he was still considered guilty by association with Chloe. Even Nino wasn't as friendly as he once was.

* * *

After school, Adrien asked the Gorilla to wait a moment while he went running across the street to check the bakery. He was relieved to see it was still in operation. He could see Marinette's mother and father working inside.

Then Adrien saw the flyer with Marinette's picture, taped to the inside of the door.

"MISSING. HAVE YOU SEEN THIS GIRL?"

The flyer gave a "last seen" date, which Adrien recognized as the date of his mother's disappearance.

Adrien swayed in shock. He cried out, "Noooo!"


	14. Confrontation

Adrien pushed away his plate. He couldn't eat. His parents had gone out to a restaurant together. They were happy but Adrien was beyond miserable.

His wish got Marinette kidnapped, possibly killed. There was nothing he could do about it… or was there?

Adrien went to the gallery and looked at the painting with the safe behind it. He had the combination memorized from when he broke into it as Le Paon. It was probably the same. With no robbery, there was no reason to change it. If he were Le Paon again then detective work might find her.

Adrien opened the safe. The Butterfly pin was there too, right next to the Peacock brooch. For an instant a wild idea came to him. He could become a new Papillon, get the Cat and Peacock Miraculouses back again, and make another wish. Like father, like son. No, he wouldn't go down that path.

Nathalie came in and stood by her desk. "Before you do anything rash, Adrien, I have something to show you."

"Nathalie! I can explain..."

"Don't bother. I know what you're doing. Just look at this."

Nathalie held up her tablet with a live feed. It showed a pale and disheveled Marinette, gagged and secured to a chair, with handcuffs on each wrist locked to the arms of the chair. A man in a ski mask was holding a gun on her.

"You! You kidnapped her," said Adrien in horror.

"It was going to be your mother," said Nathalie. "I had a sudden vision that this would work out better. My accomplice thought I was crazy to kidnap a random girl, but I'm the boss. Now it has paid off."

"How long have you been planning this?" Adrien asked.

"Years. I infiltrated this household in hopes of getting the magic jewels, but I was never trusted with the safe combination. I put up with your insufferable father as a boss, and I was nice to you, a whiny brat, all for this moment."

She gave him a cold stare. "Give me the jewels and the book or she dies."

Adrien handed them over. What else could he do?

"I have to test that these are real," said Nathalie to the man on the screen. "Signing off for now. If I don't call back in five minutes, execute her."

Natalie set the tablet down on the desk and pinned the brooch to her sweater. "I claim this Miraculous."

Duusu flew out from the jewelry said, "Hello! I am Duusu and you are my new mistress. I hope you will be good and sweet, like my last mistress was."

"We'll talk later," said Nathalie. "For now, just tell me how to transform."

"Say 'Duusu, Fan Out,' to change, and 'Fan In' to change back."

"Duusu, Fan Out!"

Nathalie went the ritualized motions of transformation. First she wiped her hand over her face, changing her skin tone to purple and creating dark mask-like shadows around her eyes. A gesture to her hair changed its color to indigo, and a feathery tear-shaped cocktail hat with a pink spot appeared, with a veil that extended over her right eye. She stretched out her arms and twirled, and a long purple dress with a train that looked like peacock feathers flowed around her.

"Perfect," she said. "Now I am Le Paon, and my henchman will be Papillon. With my brains and his super-powered enforcers we will take over the city, if not the world."

"Now let Marinette go!" said Adrien.

"Well, I don't need either of you any more. I don't like loose ends, so I'll just kill you both instead," said Le Paon with an evil laugh. "I'm strong enough in this form to use my bare hands."

She came at him with hands extended. Adrien backed up until he was at the open portrait.

Just as she was ready to grab him, a young woman in an orange fox suit burst through the window on the left side of the safe. The fan was knocked away as the girl pounced on Le Paon. In a moment, the brooch was taken and Nathalie was tied up with a rope that the girl had on her belt.

"Greetings," said the girl. "I am Rena Rouge, a superhero here to bail you out of trouble."

"My hostage will die if you don't release me," threatened Nathalie.

"She's right," said Adrien. "She has a video call to a kidnapper with a gun on Marinette. If she doesn't call back in five minutes it's all over. But she can't be trusted to keep her alive, either."

"I have an solution for that," said Rena Rouge.

She gagged Nathalie with a handkerchief and walked over to the desk. "The call is on this tablet?"

When Adrien nodded, Rena Rouge put her flute to her lips and blew a tune. Now she looked just like Nathalie. She picked up the tablet and pressed a button to redial the last call.

"Everything is fine," she told the criminal. "No, don't kill her yet. We still need her. I'll explain when I get there."

After signing off the call, she said, "That bought us a little time, but it used up my major power. I need to refuel. Do you have any fruit, especially grapes?"

"In the kitchen," said Adrien. "But how did you know to come here?"

"Making a wish that upsets the balance of the universe makes a big splash to those sensitive to such things," said Rena Rouge. "And changing the past gives a person like that time to prepare. I was recruited and trained in secret by the Guardian, who by the way is a good man who had nothing to do with the kidnapping."

"I know that now. I also know about the kwamis. Why didn't he use the Cat and Ladybug powers?" asked Adrien.

"Those are useless right now. They got entangled by your wish," said Rena Rouge.

"Do you know where Marinette is?"

"I don't, but I'll try to find her in time."

"I have another idea. Instead of staying Rena Rouge, use the Butterfly Miraculous. I know roughly how it works. We can help Marinette, give her the power to escape."

"You'll have to go into the other room and not watch. Preserving my secret identity is Superhero 101."

Adrien did. He heard her summon the Butterfly kwami, Nooroo, and get instructions on how to use the power.

When she was ready, she called him back in. Now she had on a silver face-covering hood, an opera cape, and she was holding a glass-headed walking stick.

"I am Mademoiselle Butterfly. Quiet while I scan for a frightened kidnap victim. Found her. The only problem is that it takes a few seconds to give her powers. The kidnapper will notice and he might shoot her before she's transformed."

"I'll take the Peacock Miraculous and follow the butterfly," said Adrien. "In that form I can fly."

Mademoiselle Butterfly agreed, and Adrien summoned Duusu to transform.

A white butterfly landed in the heroine's left hand. She enclosed it with her other hand and purple energy flowed in.

"Go to her, my little butterfly, and empower her!"

* * *

Le Paon followed the akuma butterfly. His keen eyes kept it in sight as he followed it into a bad section of town. He prayed it would not diverted by some other strong emotion.

The butterfly came to a house and went in through a crack. The door was locked, but Le Paon used Insight and picked the lock with the tip of a spare Wisdom feather.

He went down the dingy hall to a lighted room.

"Who's there?" called the thug inside.

Trying to sound like Nathalie, Le Paon said. "It's me, your boss. I transformed with the Peacock Miraculous."

As he entered the room, Le Paon saw the akuma enter the handcuffs on Marinette's right hand. The thug was watching him, not her.

"You don't look like her," said the criminal, pointing the gun at him. "What's my name?"

Le Paon hesitated and guessed, "Louie."

The thug fired. Le Paon fell, shot in the chest. He saw the man coming over to finish him off.

A cloud of purple butterflies surrounded Marinette. With superhuman strength she snapped off the arms of the chair and pulled the handcuffs loose. She tore off the gag.

She was wearing a suit similar to Chat Noir's, but it was dull red and covered with irregular black spots.

"All these months I dreamed of heroes rescuing me," said the akumatized Marinette to the thug. "One was wearing a spotted suit, and the other was in a cat costume. Now I am both in one. I am Jaguar, and you are in a world of trouble!"

The kidnapper aimed at her, but she threw the broken chair at him and the gun went flying. She leaped on him and got him down on his back.

Jaguar raised a clawed hand and snarled, "I'm going to tear you apart!"

"No! Mercy! I surrender," the man begged.

A line of light appeared around Jaguar's face. "You're right," she said. "I won't be like him."

She rolled the man over and got the keys to the handcuffs out of his back pocket. She unlocked her cuffs and put one pair on the man's hands, behind his back.

Adrien knew he was dying, but he was happy. Marinette was going to be all right.

Everything went black.


	15. Separation

Adrien woke up on a mat in an unfamiliar room. It was sparsely furnished in an oriental style, with an old phonograph record player on a nearby table. The old man Adrien knew as "The Master" was sitting beside the mat in a lotus position. Jaguar was also in the room, standing a few meters away.

Adrien felt his chest and there was no wound. "What happened?"

The Master said, "You were lucky. Under the direction of Mademoiselle Butterfly, Marinette touched your fan and wished you healed. Regeneration is the major power of the Peacock, which is closely related to the Phoenix in mythology."

Adrian remembered Duusu telling him about the Transformation power that could heal even mortal wounds, which would also cause him to time out as Le Paon.

"Thank you..." said Adrien.

"You may call me Master Fu."

"Thank you, Master Fu. And you too, Jaguar."

"I carried the boy here as she asked, but I really want to go home to my family now," said Jaguar. "Can you get Mademoiselle Butterfly to change me back?"

"Of course," said Master Fu. "I'll call her. She can call back her butterfly and you will return to normal."

After a quick call, Jaguar turned back to Marinette in a flurry of purple butterflies. Her clothes were grimy and her hair was no longer in pigtails, but grown out and tangled.

"There is one more thing you can help us with, Marinette," said Master Fu. It will also help you to recover memories."

Master Fu picked up a red ring with black spots from the table. Adrien recognized the fusion of the two Miraculouses he had made.

"This traveled back in time to power the fulfillment of your wish," said Master Fu. "It replaced the two Miraculouses in my box. Tikki and Plagg were trapped inside it, but my kwami, Wayzz, was able to communicate with them and I learned everything I needed to know to arrange a rescue."

"I thought you learned all about it with your mystic powers because my wish made a big splash," said Adrien. "That's what Rena Rouge thought."

"No, my mystic powers are not that great," said Master Fu. "I didn't tell her every detail."

Master Fu held out the ring to them.

"Now I need your help, Marinette and Adrien. Will you each take hold of one side of the ring, and pull?"

"What good will that do?" asked Marinette. She seemed groggy from exhaustion.

"Each of you has an affinity for one of the kwami spirits in this ring. You will be able to separate them," said Master Fu.

They took the ring as directed and pulled. There was a snap of violet energy. Marinette ended up with the earrings and Adrien got the cat ring. The kwamis came out and embraced each other.

"Oh, it's so nice to be out again," said Tikki.

"Tired of being stuck with me, eh?" asked Plagg.

Marinette stared at the earrings in her hand. "I… remember using these. I remember… you!"

Marinette glared at Adrien. He flinched.

"What did you do to me? How dare you!" said Marinette.

"I'm really sorry. I screwed up making a wish. I wanted to get my mother back," Adrien said.

"You were warned that there was a balance," said Master Fu.

"You wished the problems of your family onto another family," said Marinette. "It wouldn't even have bothered you if it hadn't been someone you knew."

"There is always a personal price for the wisher," said Master Fu. "Do you remember the story of the Monkey's Paw?"

"No," said Adrien and Marinette together.

"A couple gets a magical artifact, and they are warned that wishes from it are cursed. They wish for some money anyway. Soon they get the money – as compensation for an accident that killed their son."

"Oh no," said Marinette.

"The universe chose someone important to you as a penalty," said Master Fu to Adrien.

"I had no idea it would work like that. I thought it would be better for Paris if my father never started making akumas," said Adrien.

"And how did that work out for you?" asked Master Fu.

"It went completely wrong. The wish was fulfilled by giving Nathalie a vision of a new way to get the Miraculouses. She and her henchman were going to be worse for Paris than my father ever was," said Adrien.

"You see? Monkey's Paw again," said Master Fu.

"I messed up," said Adrien. "But it's not all on me. Nobody communicated anything to me about all these secrets and Monkey Paw stuff. I was left to dig out the facts for myself, and I made huge mistakes."

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," said Master Fu.

"Right, so why wasn't I given a lot of knowledge? If I was going to help Marinette save Paris as partner, why keep me in the dark?" asked Adrien.

"That was my fault," said Master Fu. "I have a habit of secrecy around the kwamis. I was wrong."

"I ended up not trusting you," said Adrien. "We could have solved things easily if I told you about the Peacock Miraculous and what I knew about my father. Yeah, he would have gone to prison and I probably would be in a foster home, but it would have been worth it to spare Marinette the grief."

"Grief, you call it?" said Marinette in a fury. "I went through months of hell! I'm not the same bubbly, optimistic person I was. I don't think I ever will be. And my poor parents – what they must have been through!"

"I'm very sorry," said Adrien.

"I never want to see you again, except when I have to on billboards," said Marinette. "I'd appreciate it if you transferred to a different school. Or I will."

"I'll go back to being home schooled," said Adrien.

Alya burst in and called from the other room. "Mission accomplished, Master Fu! I have the Fox and Butterfly Miraculouses, plus the book. I also tipped off the police about the kidnappers. Oops – you guys are still here."

"Don't worry about your secret identity," said Adrien. "I figured it out when I saw you as Le Paon."

"I am closing up superhero shop in this city anyway," said Master Fu. "Now that all the Miraculous gems are back together I will find a safer place for them. Probably in China."

"Aaw," said Alya. "I'll miss being a superhero."

"I took the Peacock Miraculous back too, Adrien," said Master Fu. "I'm sure, when you explain to your parents how much danger your family has been in because of holding onto ancient magical items, that they will be happy to have them kept by their appointed Guardian."

"Alya, would you help me get home?" Marinette asked. "I'm exhausted. You don't know me in this time-line, but in the other one we were best friends. I hope we can be again."

"For sure, girl," said Alya. "Once you're up to coming back to school, maybe you can help me stand up to Chloe."

Marinette gave a weak laugh. "Glad to. After all I've been through Chloe doesn't scare me at all."

Adrien thought he might put some pressure on Chloe, too. It wouldn't make up for anything, but it was the right thing to do.

"Goodbye, Marinette," said Adrien. "I guess I'll see you at Nathalie's trial. We'll probably both have to testify to put the kidnappers away."

Marinette left without speaking to him, holding onto Alya's arm.

"Goodbye, Plagg, I'll miss you. And Duusu, too," said Adrien.

"Bye, kid," said Plagg. "It was fun."

Adrien called his parents and they said they would send the Gorilla to pick him up. He waited on the sidewalk a block away from Master Fu's place.

"I saved Paris from the akuma villains, at least," Adrien thought. "It just cost me and Marinette a lot… too much."


	16. Epilogue

A few days later, Adrien got an email from Marinette. (He had given Alya his email address when they worked together on a particle physics presentation in the other timeline, and Alya had shared it with Marinette.)

"Adrien, I'm sorry for how harsh I was with you the last time I saw you. I was so exhausted that nothing you could have said would have helped. After I got back to Maman and Papa, got some bakery food, got a bath, and got twelve hours of sleep, I felt much better.

"I see now that keeping secrets from you caused a lot of distrust. When I told you about someone else getting hurt from your wish, you must have thought I was just repeating something Master Fu told me, and you had no reason to believe him. You didn't have any way of knowing how badly the wish would turn out.

"As soon as you knew what happened to me you put your life on the line to rescue me. I never thanked you for that. Thank you now for saving my life. (I saved yours back, I think. My time as an akuma is fuzzy but Alya told me about it.)

"In a lot of ways this world is better. Your family is saved, Paris wasn't traumatized, and all the people who work for your father won't have their reputations tainted by working for a supervillain.

"I miss our time together as superheroes. You're the only other person who remembers them. Do you think we could get together sometime and talk about those old times?"

Adrien answered immediately.

"I"d love to. Shall we go out for an ice cream tomorrow?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to several good constructive criticisms I decided to end on a more hopeful note. Thanks to all readers and reviewers.


End file.
